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THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



menclature, and have made but little original investigation, but I can at least 

 compare easily accessible works. There are only 64 British butterflies on 

 the most liberal computation. I find the following discrepancies in their 

 nomenclature between the work in question, and Mr. Kirby's catalogue : 

 Staudinger, Kirhy. 



Argyrotoxus, Bgstr., 1779. Argus, Linn., 1761. 



Astrarche, Bgstr., 1779. Alexis, Scop., 1763. 



Bellargus, Rot., 1775. Thetis, Rot., 1775. 



Condon, Poda., 1761. Corydon, Scop., 1763. 



Minima, Euessl., 1775. Alms, W.Y., 1776. 



^Ethiops, Esp., 1777. Medea, W.Y., 1776. 



It is not for me to decide between the two, but it is fair to both if I assume 

 that all the references are correct. On this supposition Dr. Staudinger has 

 not given the earliest name in three instances. In one — Thetis= Bellargus, 

 it appears open to doubt, and in two cases Kirby appears to have erred. But 

 if this proportion of errors (3 in 64, or 1 in every 21) be maintained through- 

 out the work what an appalling total there must be, and when would universal 

 agreement be arrived at if we commenced to correct them. 



But it is not for nomenclature alone that Mr. Tutt admires the work of 

 Drs. Staudinger and Wocke. He thinks Mr. South ought " to have 

 gone the whole hog/' and followed the arrangement as well as the 

 nomenclature. No doubt some of the arrangement in Staudinger is better 

 than that of South, the position of the Lyclenim for instance ; but Mr. 

 South has placed some of his species in a more natural position than has 

 Dr. Staudinger, Miana expolita [Photedes captiuncula) for one. It would 

 not be fitting that I should here discuss Mr. South' s arrangement, but my 

 opinion is that while he adopted too much of that of Dr. Staudinger, he 

 exercised a wise discretion in not following it throughout if he wished his 

 catalogue to sell. There are many points on which we may with perfect pro- 

 priety, differ, in our present state of knowledge. Thus we may doubt whether 

 the Geometers or Deltoides follow the Noctuse most naturally, or which is 

 the most appropriate place for the Plumes. But the generic arrangement 

 of Staudinger, and the extraordinary mixture of species in some of the genera, 

 is indeed difficult to understand. Small and easily defined genera, arranged 

 with regard to natural affinity, are most helpful to the youug student, but in 

 Staudinger' s catalogue we find some of even the largest genera, swollen by 

 the addition of others till they are beyond knowledge. Thus his genus 

 Agrotis contains 171 European species, of which about 50 are British, and 

 generally divided into the five genera, Agrotis, Tripliana, Noctua, Pachiolia, 

 and Advena. Nor are the species of each of these five genera kept together, 



